


Love Me The Same

by antisoshial



Category: The Vampire Diaries & Related Fandoms, The Vampire Diaries (TV), 소녀시대 | Girls' Generation | SNSD
Genre: F/F, Human/Vampire Relationship, Inspired by The Vampire Diaries, Love Triangles, taengsic - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:46:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24997078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/antisoshial/pseuds/antisoshial
Summary: It's just not in Taeyeon's blood to feed on beautiful humans, especially on a mortal like Jessica Jung.
Relationships: Hwang Miyoung | Tiffany/Kim Taeyeon, Jung Sooyeon | Jessica/Kim Taeyeon
Comments: 6
Kudos: 35





	1. prologue

**Author's Note:**

> TW // this story contains depictions of blood and violence which some people may not be comfortable with. please proceed at your own risk.
> 
> fyi, this au takes place in the vampire diaries universe and inspired by it. enjoy :D

It was a chilly evening in January of 1449. A lone woman in white walks along the dirt path, leading up to her cozy home.

The woman’s lips lifted upwards at the thought of her husband and daughters welcoming her with hugs and kisses. “I’ll be home soon, my loves,” She thought, grinning to herself. She holds onto the basket of bread tighter, looking forward to eating the food with her family.

She reaches her home with happy steps. The woman opens the door, envisioning her children to spill out and hug the life out of her. Instead, it was pools of blood—not from her own but from her entire family.

Her smile fades faster than a tiny flame from the wick of a candle. Her legs collapse and she drops the loaves of bread to the oozing blood. Only whimpers came out of her mouth as her mind was hazy and at a loss for words. She crawls to her children. There were a pair of angry punctures on their necks as well as their wrists.

She whispers a ‘sorry’ to each of her dead children and sings them a lullaby. The mother of three sobs harder as she hums, knowing she would never sing them to sleep ever again. Her cries were suddenly accompanied by a man’s hoarse voice, begging for help.

The woman’s ears perked up. Her other half must still be alive. She gently lays down the body of her youngest.

She moves to their bedroom where her husband’s voice was heard. The door opened to reveal her husband lying face down with a bloody axe beside him. He has no axe-related injuries that were seen on his body, the wife trusts that her husband must have fought the _monster_ that entered their home.

“He-help me…” The man pleads in an almost-whisper voice. He was slowly losing his strength. He struggles to raise his hand, reaching out to his wife that stood in shock. The woman rushes to him and kneels down beside his weak body.

“Honey…” His wife calls to him as tears fall out of her eyes. She presses down on the marks on his neck with a cloth to stop the bleeding. His body falls limp, making the last eye contact to his wife, and taking in the emotions that the woman couldn’t articulate at the moment, before closing his eyes forever.

And she was the last person alive in the house.

It was a tragic evening in January of 1449. A lone woman drenched in blood vows to avenge her poor family who did nothing to deserve this.

She grabs his late husband’s axe and gets up from the floor. She goes to the forest carrying the weapon, rage being the only emotion she knows and murder is the only solution she welcomes.

Wandering in the woods alone, she realizes that she has a shy company hiding within the forest. The woman’s steps were light and careful. On the contrary, the _monster’s_ steps were loud and haste.

A branch crunches behind her, she turns around and there was nothing. The trees were rustling hard like they were being shaken by children who wanted its fruits to drop.

She hears a beastly growl. “It’s coming closer,” She thought with a smirk, already having a plan in her mind.

The wild beast in silver fur emerges from the trees and jumps onto the woman’s back, biting her shoulder and almost ripping out a mouthful of flesh, until she uses all of her strength to shake off the wolf on her back. The wolf growls, taking no time to bite her again, this time on her calf.

The woman endures the pain from her back and leg, taking the beast’s position a wide-open door of opportunity for her to enter. She swings the axe upwards then landing its sharp blade on the wolf’s side, leaving a deep diagonal cut near its head. The beast bites the woman a final time, targeting her hand without the axe before it whimpers with pain and runs away.

She smiles in victory, dropping the axe near her feet and taking deep breaths as if she had run a mile. She feels really lightheaded for some reason. The woman thought it was just the fatigue from witnessing the murder of her family but it was her injuries by the wolf. Her whole body ached, she drops to the ground again. Her injured hands support her upper body as the animal’s blood mixes with her own. The blood from the bites keeps pouring out like a waterfall. The woman eventually dies from blood loss.

Not a day later, the village hears about what happened. The townspeople bury the family besides each other, praying so that the heavens would grant the once happy family peace in the afterlife.

The woman jolts awake in the forest. She cops a feel to the injuries on her shoulder, calf, and hand. She gasps when she feels smooth skin instead like the wound had already closed up. She feels tired and hungry yet stronger than ever. Her nose picks up a scent of metallic fluid approaching and her stomach growls in response. She then hears voices talking about finding her dead body to bury alongside her family if she didn’t survive the attack.

“Two families were killed last night. I do hope we find the young mother alive,” says an elderly woman.

She hears the footsteps getting closer and feels the sunlight burning her skin. It hisses like a steak cooking on a pan. She quickly hides under a large tree’s shade, her senses still focused on the people—or food.

Her stomach growls again. She licks her lips then jumps down to bite on a random person’s neck, sucking all of their blood hungrily. She noticed they came as a pair. She lets go of the useless body that she fed on seconds ago.

The woman’s eyes turn pitch black, dark purple veins popping out under her eyes as she targets another human. A villager crawls backwards, scared to death by what he’s witnessing. The woman opens her mouth and claims her second victim by her insatiable hunger for blood.


	2. befallen bloodbath

They call it the _Vampire of Seoul._

 _It_ only attacks during the night, leaving trails of blood and piles of bodies for the entire country to see. _It_ strikes like a hungry beast—aggressive and messy, almost like an amateur killer on their first victim. Except, its attacks were oddly clean for a beast.

No fingerprints, no relations among the victims, and no clear M.O. that helps for criminal profiling. Thus, the Violent Crimes Unit have hit a dead end.

This is the second time the Vampire struck. The first murder happened in July 1997 in Gangnam-gu. Five people were found dead in their homes with similar bite marks on their necks. No witnesses and no fingerprints present in the scene. It soon became a closed case. _It_ showed up again almost three decades later, hungrier than ever. There were reports of dozens of people killed the same way, others survived but don’t remember anything. And it happened in the span of 48 hours.

This is what Lieutenant Jung was afraid of. Another mass murder with no leads.

Although it sounds crazy, Lieutenant Jung relates the Vampire to the same tragedy way back in the 1400s. At _least_ two families were killed each week. It doesn’t exactly help the investigation but it was all Lieutenant Jung could think of. She’s afraid that they may have to leave this case unsolved, giving the entire Korean Police Department a bad rep. Truthfully, she doesn’t mind humiliating the Police Force as she was not fond of them as well, it was that she was leading the Violent Crimes Unit and they haven’t found any evidence yet.

It feels like they were chasing a ghost.

The Lieutenant’s phone rings, she hurriedly picks it up. “Lieutenant Jung of the Violent Crimes Unit speaking,”

“I have the autopsy results,”

The lieutenant puts down the receiver and makes a beeline to the morgue, interested to hear their very first lead if any.

“What did you find?” asks the Lieutenant as soon as she entered the room.

The pathologist hands her a piece of paper. “The victim didn’t die from the loss of blood. He showed signs of struggles but immediately died from asphyxiation, hence, the hand marks on his neck,” The doctor explains, motioning her hand to the red marks.

“Lieutenant, do you think this is a copycat murder?” asks the pathologist.

“It seems so, right? Have you identified the fingerprints yet?”

“I’ll call you when we do,”

The lieutenant thanks the pathologist and leaves the morgue with a big sigh.  
______  
“I feel like bashing my head against the wall right now,” says Lieutenant Jung as she bores holes into the whiteboard.

“Do it, then,” jokes her fellow detective who received a flying notepad to the face. “Ow!”

“Why don’t you guys check the CCTVs and dash cams again?” says the uneasy lieutenant, slamming her palms on her desk as if she thought of a new idea.

“What do you think we’ve been doing for the past 24 hours, Jessica-ssi?” says another detective as he rubs his tired eyes. “All we saw are shadows. The Vampire is not human, I’m telling you!”

The lieutenant plops down on her chair with a grunt. She sees an opened book facing down on the desk next to hers. “Jihoon, what book is that?” She questions her young colleague.

Jihoon picks up the book and closes it with his index finger on the page he stopped reading, showing it to his sunbae. The book is called _Vanilla_ and the cover art has a white background with falling sakura petals and butterflies.

“Isn’t it too girly for you?” She asks, scrutinizing the little details in the artwork.

“My girlfriend loved it so I’m giving it a chance. I’m enjoying it so far,” Jihoon says with a gummy smile.

“Why is it called Vanilla?” The lieutenant pries, curious about the novel that everyone seems to read these days.

“The author says it best: _“It's from the perspective of a woman who can't express her feelings honestly,”_ ” recites Jihoon.

Lieutenant Jung could only nod. She has no time for love or unrequited love as they’re in the midst of chasing a killer. She resorts to taking a nap instead, tired of their lack of progress while the Vampire is still out there leading the police in circles. 

Her only hope is the first set of fingerprints found on the strangled man’s house. Whether they may be a copycat killer because of how the man died, Jessica is sure that they would catch the Vampire. The copycat must have some sort of connection to the real one.  
_____  
“You’re really back in Seoul? Are you home?” says the overly excited Sooyoung through the phone.

“No, I’m at the nearest ice cream parlor right now,” answers the woman in chestnut hair, scooping a spoonful of mint chocolate ice cream. “My house can wait,”

“Why are you suddenly back?”

“Some publishing company in Yongsan wants me to be their senior editor,” She shrugs, taking another bite of the ice cream.

“I’m glad you’re back, we have a lot of things to talk about. Make sure to drink coffee,” reminds Sooyoung.

“Okay, mom,” The brunette ends the call, eating the last spoonful of ice cream and throwing the cup to the recycling bin. She takes her luggage and calls Hyoyeon who immediately picks up.

“Taeyeon, I heard you’re back in Seoul!” Hyoyeon chirped. She quickly adds in a quiet voice, “Listen, I need to hide in your house for a little while,”

“You’re giving me problems already?” Taeyeon complains. “I just got here, Hyo,”

“I promise I won’t bother you when you’re writing,” assures Hyoyeon, placing her hand on her chest as if Taeyeon could see it.

“How about you stay away from my home and keep your fugitive ass to yourself?” Taeyeon suggests, laughing. The door opens and a woman her age (and height) invite her in.

“Okay then. I guess I’ll just have to introduce you to Juhyun,”

“Who’s Juhyun?”  
_____  
“Are you sure about this?” Jessica questioned, taking another look at the piece of paper in her hands with disbelief.

“Yes. The hand marks are small, all evidence points to her,” The pathologist replied, doubting the results as well.

Jessica stares at the name on the paper: _Kim Hyoyeon._

“How can a woman like you strangle a grown man with so much force?” Jessica wonders to herself.  
______  
Taeyeon gapes at the contents in the fridge. “Wow,” She voices out.

“I told you I always keep my word,” Hyoyeon beams proudly, patting Juhyun’s arm as thanks.

“Are you telling me I have an unlimited supply of human blood now? Are they okay with it?” Taeyeon grabs a bag of blood, her eyes literally turning dark with hunger.

“I’m sure the humans don’t mind,” replies Juhyun with a shrug.

“What _are_ you?” Taeyeon wonders. 

She just met this woman and she gets free human blood on her first day back in Seoul. Surely, Juhyun must be a supernatural being too.

The younger woman just smiles as the lights flicker rapidly, the windows open and close, and the blood bag in Taeyeon’s hands floats in the air.

The brunette claps, enjoying the magic show. Everything returns to its original state. “You must be a Seo, right?” asks Taeyeon as she catches the falling bag of blood in a swift movement.

“Bingo!”

“Well, do you wanna hear about my girlfriends—”

Hyoyeon covers Taeyeon’s mouth and laughs to Juhyun who was confused about the situation.

“Taeng has a weird way of saying thanks. We’ll see you later, Juhyun-ah,” Hyoyeon waves goodbye as she pushes Taeyeon out of the lab room in Juhyun’s clinic.

“If you want to drink human blood again, don’t traumatize our only source by telling her about what you did to her ancestor,” Hyoyeon says in a hushed tone once they were out in the open.

“Why? She’s a big girl. She can understand Rated R stuff,” Taeyeon states, walking back to her home. Hyoyeon catches up. She fears that the police may have seen her fingerprints or something so she walks with paranoia.

Taeyeon knocks on the door, the woman from before opens it with a smile. “This is my editor, Sunkyu,” The brunette says to her friend.

“Did you compel her?” questions Hyoyeon in shock, but her face relaxes when she saw a pendant on Sunkyu. “Is that…”

“Vervain, yeah,” Sunkyu answered, holding the round, silver pendant between her fingers. “Come in, I’ll prepare something warm,”

The two vampires step in with ease, finally able to rest. 

It was 10 in the evening. Taeyeon goes to her office, continuing to work on her manuscript that Sunkyu begs to finish already. Hyoyeon plays on the Nintendo Switch in the living room, and Sunkyu talks to the editor-in-chief for hours on the phone, pacing around her room and losing her patience. It was a normal day for the three until Lieutenant Jung gets a warrant and visits Taeyeon’s new home, asking for a Kim Hyoyeon.

Sunkyu hesitantly opens the door. There were three officers and a police car parked on the sidewalk waiting for Hyoyeon. Taeyeon heard all the commotion downstairs and dials Sooyoung’s number while she makes use of her supernatural hearing to eavesdrop.

_“Your neighbors saw a purple-haired woman entering this property. You do know you’ll get charged for complicity, am I wrong?”_

Taeyeon hears a female voice.

 _“I’m telling you, my friends come and go whenever they like. I just got home myself and I didn’t see anyone,”_ Sunkyu lies.

 _“Then we’ll find her,”_ A male voice says, and Taeyeon hears a paper being rustled. An arrest warrant.

She realizes what was happening next and goes back to her chair, pretending to write. Three pairs of footsteps reach her door, it bursts open and Taeyeon pretends to be shocked.

“Hi?”

“Have you seen any purple-haired girl about your height?” interrogates a male detective.

“Hyoyeon?” says Taeyeon, questioningly.

“So you know her?” Jessica asks.

Taeyeon’s eye widen as she saw the lieutenant. She quickly composes herself and answers, “Yeah, we recently met a few hours ago. I invited her for drinks but then she left afterwards,” She lies, making sure it matches with Sunkyu’s.

“And when was that?”

“A couple of hours ago,”

The detectives grunt and sigh, knowing they’ve hit the wall again. One detective stood by as the two exit her office. He keeps looking at her and looks down when she notices him staring during the questioning.

“Can I help you?”

“Are you really Taeyeon-nim who wrote the _Purpose_ series?” Jihoon shyly clarifies.

“Yes. Do you want me to sign something?” She says, reaching for a small piece of paper on her desk.

“Yes, please!”  
______  
A Thursday morning in the Yongsan Police Station continues like usual, except for the Violence Crimes team who are figuratively hitting their heads against the wall.

Their suspect Kim Hyoyeon disappeared without a trace. The detectives unsuccessfully look for any camera footage of the purple-haired woman. A few hours before lunchtime, their Chief of Police unexpectedly calls Jessica’s team along with the pathologist, Dr Seong.

“You called us, Chief?” Jihoon was the first to speak once everyone was present in the room.

Chief Choi was seated on the table with her arms crossed and facing the blank projector screen. She stands up from the table and smiles at her subordinates as she heard the door opening. “Oh, you’re here already,”

The chief motions for them to all to sit down, saying she has an important announcement that needs their undivided attention. Once everyone was seated, Chief Choi smiles again and makes eye contact with each of them.

“I want you all to erase whatever data you found on Kim Hyoyeon and forget everything about the copycat murder. Focus your investigation on the real culprit instead,”

“Yes, Chief.” They all say in chorus.

“Alright, now forget I was here and continue your stressful Thursday,” Chief Choi leaves the room first.

The team and the pathologist move out and do as they were compelled to do, working like robots.

The chief of police sends a text message to her friend after the mind compulsion:

_It’s done :)_

Taeyeon smiles. She replies to the message:

_Hyo and I owe you one, Syoung 😊_

The team in charge of the Vampire case works on deleting or shredding any evidence or so much as written speculation they have on Sooyoung’s friend, Hyoyeon.

The phone on Jessica’s desk rings. “Lieutenant Jung of the—” her introduction was cut off.

“I think I saw the Vampire,” says the witness shakily.


	3. vagabond vampire

_“You’re back, Hyo?”_

_“Yeah, Sooyoung just called me. I wanted to thank you guys for your troubles before going back home. Where’s Taeyeon?”_

_“In her office. The entire day,”_

_“Did she at least compel the neighbors to forget what happened yesterday?”_

_“She did, before locking herself in her office,”_

Taeyeon pours her 23rd shot of straight vodka, gulping it down and feeling the burn on her throat. She hates the taste of it, especially imbibing her 23rd, but she wants to be wasted again. This isn’t the best time to be a vampire. She hates that she has to drink twenty bottles of soju, two bottles of bourbon, and three bottles of vodka to make her, an undead blood-sucking lightweight, have a burning headache the day after.

Her drinking stops midway when her purple-haired friend sends her door flying by a light kick. She shrugs and gulps down another shot.

“Remind me to fix that,” slurs Taeyeon, the mixture of alcohols already numbing her.

“Why the hell is your door locked?”

Hyoyeon gasps as soon as she saw the bottles of alcohol in front of the brunette. The empty bottles were placed neatly in order of consumption, positioned like it was Taeyeon’s little army with the mission of intoxicating the female vampire.

“I mean, I understand if you’re still not used to your heightened emotions after Turning, but you may be overreacting a bit, friend,” She grimaces as Taeyeon takes her 30th shot.

“I’m a hundred yearrrs older than you!” Taeyeon spats, shaking the almost empty bottle of vodka, sloshing its contents. “Do not disrejpect ME!”

“Look, I just wanted to be a nice friend and thank you for covering up for me—but since you're not sober, I'm gonna leave quietly,” Hyoyeon tiptoes out the room and whispers something to Sunkyu before leaving.

“Why do I have to take care of Taeyeon again?” Sunkyu groans, taking her wallet and coat. "She's literally the only vampire who loves ice cream,"

Sunkyu drives out of the garage, humming along to the music in the radio while tapping the steering wheel with her fingers. She makes a turn and her eyes widen in shock when she saw the person in the rear-view mirror talking to someone and going inside the house. She exits the car, secretly following the familiar woman.

“What is she doing in our neighborhood?” She whispers to herself as she crouch walks behind a stone fence and occasionally peek out to spy on her old friend.

A loud masculine scream makes Sunkyu jump. She covers her mouth and peeks through the window again, witnessing something she shouldn’t have. She takes the vial of translucent fluid from her coat pocket and enters the home, holding onto the tiny bottle for dear life.

“Yoona?”

Yoona stops drinking the blood from a man’s wrist and looks at Sunkyu. Her dark eyes and prominent veins disappear, revealing her doe eyes. She drops the hand with a thump, inching closer to her old friend from college.

Sunkyu shakily tries to pop open the vial but Yoona is already in front of her. The tall woman snatches the bottle and smashes it on the hardwood floor. She pounces on Sunkyu, grabbing her by the shoulders, and aiming for her neck.  
______  
“Feel better now?”

“Mhm,” Taeyeon hums, slowly sipping her chocolate shake and appreciating its sweet and euphoric taste. _This doesn’t compare to alcohol—well, blood doesn’t compare to both of them but I’d take sweets any day,_ Taeyeon thought.

“I’m glad my favorite _vampire_ is back in town,” Yuri says, whispering the word ‘vampire.’

“Syoung and Hyoyeon would be furious when they hear you,” Taeyeon chuckles. “By the way, your café looks different than what I remembered 5 years ago,” She comments while looking around.

“I franchised it,” Yuri grins.

“Wow, good for you!” exclaims Taeyeon. She takes another sip from the Mason jar before adding, “I met a Seo witch yesterday,”

“A Seo witch?” Yuri whisper-shouts as she glances around to see if anyone overhears their conversation. “Did they try to kill you?”

Taeyeon shakes her head. “No, Hyoyeon is apparently already friendly with her. She’s a doctor in one of the hospitals in Gangnam and has her own clinic not far from here with a hidden room full of blood bags, Vervain, wooden stakes, and her own potion station,”

“I don’t understand. Is she on your side or Vampire Hunters?”

“Juhyun says the weapons are only for newborn vampires or those who have their humanities turned off. I mean, she invited us inside her clinic which she has ownership to, so.” She shrugs then continues drinking on her chocolate shake.

“Well, she’s not the only powerful witch in town,” winks Yuri as Taeyeon laughs in response. “You know who to call if she ever betrays you,”

“I doubt she’ll literally stab us in the heart, but I’ll make sure to keep that in mind, Yuri-ah,” says Taeyeon, giving her friend a smile before shooing her off in a joking manner to get her back to her waiting customers.

Taeyeon leaves ten minutes later and says goodbye to Yuri who was speaking with her regular customers. The café owner goes behind the counter to help her employees and she sees a woman with dark, wavy hair asking people if they’ve seen the person in the photograph that she’s holding.

“Was she born here? She sounds fluent in Korean, though.” ponders Yuri.  
_____  
“Can you tell me what the Vampire looks like, ma’am?” Jessica asks, holding the phone between her ear and shoulder while looking for a pen and paper.

“It was dark but I definitely saw a woman,” The witness takes a shaky breath.

“Do you know what she looks like or what she’s wearing perhaps?”

“Unfortunately I cannot answer that, but I know she’s five-foot something and has long hair,”

“This helps a lot. Thank you for your cooperation. May I know your name—” The call ends, cutting her off again. “She’s quite rude,” Jessica mutters to herself.

“Do we have a lead?!” blurted Chul-soo, the lieutenant’s older colleague.

“Yes,” Jessica says, grinning. “Since we only have one witness, we can’t be sure if she’s telling the truth. But we’re looking for a five-foot something female with long hair,”

“The Vampire is a tiny woman?” Jihoon says, perplexed.

“Hey, don’t height-shame. I’m a five-footer too…” grumbled Jessica, looking down at her feet and pouting.

“Sorry, sunbae. So where to go from here?”  
_____  
“Here, drink my blood,” Taeyeon offers her bleeding wrist to Sunkyu who just got bitten by Yoona.

“Ugh, I hate the taste of blood,” cringes Sunkyu. She drinks a few drops and her bite marks instantly heal in the blink of an eye.

“You know this girl?” Taeyeon looks at the young vampire who was passed out on their living room floor.

“She’s Yoona, the nice hoobae I talked to you about,” She massages her closed up wound. “I’m glad my daily intake of Vervain finally paid off, geez,” says Sunkyu, mostly to herself.

“Im Yoona? Didn’t she intern in our last company for a week?” Taeyeon says, surprised.

“I know, it’s weird that she’s in Seoul and suddenly feeding on our neighbors,”

“She was human the last time I met her. Do you have any idea who turned your friend?” Sunkyu shrugs.

Taeyeon’s attention now turns to the purple-haired woman, walking up to the coffee table and taking a sit in front of her. “Well, can we now talk about the elephant in the room?”

“No?”

“I think we do,” Sooyoung chimes in, ready to interrogate their friend. She takes a seat next to her on the couch.

Taeyeon looks at Hyoyeon straight in the eye. “You were really about to run away again after killing a human. I thought we’ve already gone past that centuries ago,”

“He cheated on me!” retorts Hyoyeon.

“Did you have your humanity turned off when you found out?” asks Sooyoung.

“No…” Hyoyeon fidgets and looks down.

“Did you bite him after-the-fact?” questions Sooyoung again, remembering the autopsy results.

“I don’t drink from humans anymore,”

“So, that confirms our suspicion that Yoona is the only _Vampire of Seoul,_ huh?” Taeyeon comments, once again taking a look at the Vervain-induced vampire.

“I suggest one of you guys take care of her. It’ll be tough if the police found out that the Vampire is an actual vampire, especially since Sooyoung is one herself,” Sunkyu interjects, moving closer to the group.

“We should also get some Vervain shots from Juhyun’s clinic. Who knows if there are other vampires out here in Seoul,” suggests Taeyeon. The friends agreed.  
_____  
Lieutenant Jung thanks Yuri for her cooperation and exits the staff room empty-handed. She looks at her notebook to see where she’s headed to next.

“Oh!”

“I’m sorry!”

Two women fall down, dropping their things with them.

“Sorry, sorry! I wasn’t looking!” sputtered a woman who looks half-American, like Lieutenant Jung who was born in San Francisco.

“Are you okay?” Jessica picks up her notebook and a picture that the woman dropped. “Is this yours?”

 _The picture looks old like it was taken in the 1800s?_ The lieutenant examines the picture. It feels rough and worn out. _Is she looking for her grandmother?_

The woman carefully takes the picture off of Jessica’s hand. She moves closer to her, showing her the picture and asking in a low voice, “Have you seen her?”

The old photograph shows a Korean woman with curly hair in a bun and she’s wearing high-class Victorian era clothing. _Weird. I don’t recall rich Koreans in the UK._

“I’m sorry, I don’t know her,” replies Jessica regretfully. She feels bad, then takes her card and offers it to the woman with dejected eyes.

“Thank you,” She says, taking it. “I’m Tiffany. I heard my wife was last seen here, sorry for bothering you,”

Jessica had a surprised expression on her face. _Was that picture for a cosplay event then?_

“It’s fine, Tiffany. I’m Jessica, you can contact me if you need help with anything. A missing person, for example,” She smiles.

Tiffany bows to thank the kind lieutenant, then she takes off in the opposite direction. Yuri stops her. “You’ve been badgering my customers for hours. Who are you looking for?”

When Tiffany shows her the picture, Yuri audibly gasps.

“That’s Taeyeon!”  



	4. fearful foe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there is a reference guide at the end of this chapter for the readers who are not familiar with the TVD universe. if you're pretty knowledgable with the franchise, you can go ahead and skip the notes. enjoy ^^

A piece of paper falls out of Jihoon’s notebook while the team jogs out of the police station. Jessica picks it up and unfolds the paper. A signature with a butterfly drawing and a ‘thank you’ were written on it.

“Hey, Jihoon. You dropped this,” Jihoon turns around and takes the paper. He had a confused look on his face while looking at it.

“I don’t remember having Taeyeon-nim’s signature,” He puts it back to his notebook with a smile. “But I’m glad I do,”

“Writer Taeyeon-nim…” Jessica repeats the name under her breath, making a mental note to look up her Wikipedia page.  
_____  
It was finally Taeyeon and Sunkyu’s first day at work in their new publishing company. It was a rough couple of days for both of them, but as the vampire and published author hates to admit it, she’s glad to start working again and be normal just for a day.

The new company is thankfully better than their last. They welcomed the two women with open arms and even brought a cake to celebrate the famous author, Taeyeon—ironically named the youngest author to be awarded in _Daesan Literary Awards_ for her successful book series—choosing their small company out of the best ones in Seoul.

Taeyeon was enjoying her piece of cake when Yuri began calling her.

“Taeyeon-ssi! Your coffee is here!” shouted one of her friendly supervisors.

“I’ll be right there in a few,” she shouted back, pointing to her ringing phone. The supervisor nodded. She went to her office and closed the door.

“Hey, Yuri—”

“Taeyeon, we need to talk,” says Yuri in a monotone voice, cutting her off.

“Suddenly? Is there something wrong?” Taeyeon combs her fingers through her hair. Her eyebrows furrowing as she racks her brain of what could possibly be wrong that her witch friend is calling for her to fix.

“When are you going off work?”

“At six,”

“Meet me later in my café, I’ll even give you bourbon,” The call suddenly ended. Taeyeon was left dumbfounded, she spaced out for a little while until Sunkyu enters her office and slaps her shoulder. "YA!"

“Your coffee might get cold. If it gets cold, then you’ll get cold and they’ll ask why your temperature is not normal and begin suspecting if you’re undead or not,” babbled Sunkyu, nudging her friend with the coffee in her hand.

“I already know that, I’m five centuries older than you,” Taeyeon says matter-of-factly, taking the coffee with a smile.

“Then stop being a fossil and join us,” Sunkyu urged, pushing Taeyeon out of the room to rejoin their low-budget welcome party.

“That’s a little rude,” she says with a chuckle.

“I know,” Sunkyu just laughs and gets back to her coworkers.  
____  
It was midnight, and the lieutenant is about to go home as she was the only person in their precinct. It hasn’t been a week since the first attack of the Vampire but she’s tired and they haven’t made any progress except for the anonymous tip which still lead nowhere. The description was vague, it could’ve been anyone in this country.

On her way home, she sees a woman drinking a cold can of beer on the sidewalk in front of the convenience store. She buys a couple for herself and sits next to her.

“Everything alright?” Jessica asks, popping open the can. She pulls the tab carelessly—coolly—and the tin slices through her fingertip, drawing blood.

 _Why am I suddenly acting like this? Now I look like a moron._ Jessica thinks as she winces at the sting on her index finger.

The woman next to her quickly looks away, taking something from her plastic bag and offering tissues to the lieutenant with her head hung low.

“Thank you,”

She dabs the tissue on the finger and wrapping it around to stop the bleeding. “Are you not comfortable seeing blood?”

The brunette shakes her head no, eyes going dark and veins appearing and disappearing from hunger; the back of her head still facing the lieutenant. “Sorry,” she mutters.

“That’s fine. Are you new in town?”

It’s been a long time since Jessica saw someone so pretty that she wants to get to know her. She loves meeting new people. _I hope she doesn’t see that I’m trying to flirt here._

The woman nods and she slowly turns to face her. “Is your hand okay now?”

“It’s just a little scratch, don’t worry,” Jessica extends her other hand, “I’m Jessica,”

“I’m Taeyeon,” she lightly shakes her hand. “You know it’s dangerous for a lady to be outside in the middle of the night,” Taeyeon comments, cracking a shy smile.

“I should be the one saying that,” Jessica chuckles.

Looking at Taeyeon, she realizes that she’s the woman in the picture that she saw—or at least the woman’s descendant. The name Taeyeon also sounds familiar. 

“Are you an author, by any chance,” she thought out loud.

“Yeah, I’ve written books,” Taeyeon says casually. “What do you do?”

“I work for the police. Not a good one, though. Still no progress with our current investigation, unfortunately.” Jessica takes a sip of her beer.

“I’m sorry about that. Do you need help with anything? As a citizen, I might see something suspicious and report them to you,”

Jessica shakes her head with a sad smile. “It’s alright. Our chief wants to wrap up the case quickly and hand them over to the Cold Case Squad. But if you want, I can give you my contact details and you can call me if you need urgent help,” she takes out her wallet and offers Taeyeon her contact card.

“Thank you,” she bows and takes the card. _'Lt. Jessica Jung.' She’s a lieutenant now, huh?_ Taeyeon grins stupidly to herself.

“Shouldn’t you be going home?” she asks, suddenly paranoid about what she heard from Yuri a few hours ago.

“You want me to leave already?” The lieutenant jokes as her eyes wrinkle from smiling. The moonlight making Jessica’s facial features look more magical under the soft rays of the moon. Taeyeon appreciates that. She’s glad she went back to Seoul.

“No, you seem tired. I don’t want to bore you,”

“Really, it’s fine,” Jessica insists, refusing to end their friendly conversation.

Taeyeon looks into her eyes and compels her, “No, you wanna go home,” 

“Okay,” Jessica stands up from the sidewalk and begins walking away. Taeyeon gets up and throws away their empty cans while turning around to check on her, using her supernatural senses in case _they_ try to harm Jessica.

Taeyeon goes home afterwards. Using her speed, she’s already laying down on her bed in the blink of an eye. However, the thought in her mind stops her from falling asleep.

_Shit, I need to warn Jessica!_

She shoots up from her bed and uses her supernatural abilities again to find the lieutenant.  
______  
Taeyeon and Sunkyu clocked out at 6PM, as promised. Tired from work and the short welcoming party in the office, Sunkyu drives home alone while Taeyeon goes straight to Yuri’s café.

The sign says ‘closed’ but she enters anyway. There are no people inside other than Yuri that’s standing behind a woman sitting on one of the chairs, waiting for her arrival.

“What’s happening?” she asks, taking a seat next to her. The woman gasps when she sees her, covering her mouth and her eyes close to tears.

“Han-na…” The woman mutters between quiet sobs. She shakily hands her a picture that looks like Taeyeon.

“Are you looking for her?”

The woman nods, taking back the picture. Yuri walks over to give both of them a glass of water.

“She says her wife is last seen in this area. Isn’t that your doppelganger?” she questions, pouring the glasses. “Sorry, I have no blood to feed you guys,” she adds.

“Yeah, that’s Ji Han-na. She ran away like a coward before I even killed her off—sorry, no offence to her wife,” Taeyeon looks over to Tiffany and she empties her glass. “Are you sired to her, uhh…” she trails off, having no idea what the woman’s name is.

“It’s Tiffany,” she says quietly, nursing her glass. “I was in love with Han-na before she Turned me so I’m sired to her through heightened emotions when I was a human. Long story short, she belongs in the first family of vampires. I don't remember doing anything wrong but she suddenly compelled me to forget about her and that broke the sire bond. Eventually, the compulsion wore off after a few centuries and I’m willing to forgive after I find her,” finished Tiffany, her eyes scanning the picture for the nth time today as if she’ll forget about Han-na if she didn’t.

“Do you think she’s the one who Turned Yoona?” pipes in Yuri.

“She’s known to go haywire whenever she feels like. I would assume so,” answers Taeyeon with a frown.

Years of agony and bloodshed tortured Taeyeon mentally and physically. Like a flip of a switch, Han-na’s humanity goes dormant and she kills any living thing for amusement. As her doppelganger, it’s Taeyeon’s mission to send her to purgatory. Fellow vampires and other supernatural beings in the Other Side have begged for her to finally send the hybrid to her demise. It’s Taeyeon who ultimately knows Han-na’s weakness after centuries of futile attempts to kill her. No one would even go near the dangerous hybrid.

Now that she’s back in the city, she can’t let her doppelganger get close the people she cares about.  
______

Taeyeon reaches Jessica’s house, and it was still the same as five years ago. She speeds up to a random room with an open window and tries to step in. _I’m glad I’m still invited in,_ she thought with a smile. All she hears are the humming of the air conditioner and some light snoring in the room next to her. _No sign of Han-na or her minions for now._

She tiptoes to the sleeping Jessica. It would be rude if she wakes her up and tells her about the evil doppelganger, so she resorts to just manipulating her dreams instead.

“Take care of yourself. It’s dangerous to pursue the case,” she whispers, pulling out a bracelet with Vervain inside the gold pendant. Taeyeon places it on Jessica’s bedside table, near her phone.

She exits the house in a flash, hoping her words would reach the woman.  
_______  
“Taeyeon? It’s almost 2, where did you go?” Sunkyu asks in a groggy voice from the dimly lit dining area.

“I went to visit a friend,” spoke Taeyeon in a quiet tone. She takes off her shoes and wore her favorite slippers.

“I don’t think you have those,” Sunkyu laughs, putting back the bottle of water on the fridge.

Taeyeon sighs. “My doppelganger’s back. I had to warn my ex through her dreams,”

“You’ve never told me about your ex in Yongsan-gu?” says Sunkyu, shocked.

“Well, I kinda did. I’m sure you’ve read the bestselling novel of this year called Vanilla?” Taeyeon passes by her shocked friend, getting herself a blood bag in the fridge with a smirk.

“That was for her? Who is she, what’s her name?” badgered Sunkyu, patting Taeyeon’s arm in anticipation.

“She’s the female officer who visited our home when they were looking for Hyoyeon,” Taeyeon answers, gulping down the blood as her eyes turn dark while drinking. “I compelled her to forget about me before she went to study in LA,”

“I’ve known you for five years, I don’t think you compel even your one-night stands,” Sunkyu asks, “Does she mean a lot to you?”

Taeyeon nods, the action barely visible in the dark but her friend was able to understand the silence. Taeyeon says goodnight to Sunkyu and she jogs upstairs and hopes that Han-na doesn’t go anywhere close to her loved ones. She can’t bear seeing another family of hers dying in her doppelganger’s hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> terms you may not be familiar with:
> 
> Hybrids - the most common hybrid is a werewolf-vampire. it is known that hybrid and werewolf bites are dangerous to vampires, it sorta acts like poison after they are bitten.
> 
> Mind Compulsion - vampires are able to control humans as it is one of their abilities. and yes, it is possible to compel someone to fall in and out of love with them. 
> 
> Original vampires - the very first vampires are able to compel non-Original vampires. you can't kill them with a simple wooden stake, you need a White Oak stake or a dagger with White Oak ashes to stab them in the heart with.
> 
> Invitation - vampires and half-vampire hybrids aren't allowed inside a human's home unless the owner invites them in. otherwise, the invisible barrier keeps them at bay. however, they could compel the owner to invite them in.
> 
> Vervain - a plant that is very harmful to vampires. they can't touch it, ingest it, or compel humans who are wearing it. you can't kill a vampire with just that, though.
> 
> Sire Bond - being sired with a hybrid or a vampire means you feel grateful to them. sire bonds can also happen even if you, the Sired, hates the Sire. the Sire can control anyone sired to them even if they don't want to. it's more complex than mind compulsion, basically.
> 
> Doppelgangers - aka Shadow-Shelves. they're created by nature _to maintain the natural balance by dying in place of their immortal progenitors_ (source: TVD wiki page). a doppelganger's blood can be used for witches' powerful spells, undoing the sire bond curse, and so on.
> 
> Wooden stakes - you can kill a non-Original vampire using any sharp wooden objects that can pierce their hearts. decapitation or literally taking the actual heart of a vampire or a hybrid also works.
> 
> Other Side - _The Other Side was a supernatural dimension where the spirits of dead supernatural beings resided in a state of purgatory or limbo._ (source: TVD wiki)


	5. heinous hybrid

As much as she tried, Taeyeon could barely sleep a wink. She was tossing and turning the entire time. She got up and moved to her office carrying her blanket and pillow and started doing her job as an editor with enough coffee to help her write properly.

The enemy is the most threatening when you don’t know its appearance or when you don’t know when they will appear. She has already compelled Jessica to forget her twice. The first time because she can’t handle the heartbreak, and the second time when Hyoyeon was in a pickle with the authorities and Sooyoung used mind compulsion to her subordinates. _Any more and she might suffer a migraine or something._

Since it’s Saturday, she decides to call her.

“Hello?” answers Jessica groggily as she yawns.

“Good morning,” Taeyeon laughs, remembering her former girlfriend’s sleepy state. “It’s Taeyeon calling. Sorry if I woke you up,”

“Oh, the writer!” Jessica exclaims. Her half-closed eyes prying open and her mouth curving into a smile as she sits up on the bed. “It’s no problem. What can I do for you?” 

“I’m in desperate need of a friend who can have brunch with me,” Taeyeon bites on her thumb, thinking if she should’ve phrased it differently.

“I’d be happy to be that friend!” Jessica says enthusiastically. “I mean,” she clears her throat. “If you’d like me to, then it’s okay with me…”

Taeyeon finds her cute and laughs. “Of course I’m asking you out, dummy!”

“W-w-why?” stammers Jessica, her face going beet red.

“I didn’t like how we ended our talk last night. I wanted to get to know you more,” she smiles proudly. She said it so easily without stuttering that she mentally gives herself a pat on the back. The “calmness” in her tone isn’t really calm, it was more like she’s sleep-deprived and she says whatever her mind tells her to.

She remembers dating Jessica five years ago, and it feels like she’s sired to her when her then-girlfriend isn’t even an immortal being. All 596 years of her life—undead or otherwise—she has never been whipped to a human. It took her a little while to understand that she has fallen deeply for her, then Han-na came and ruined her life once again. _Always a buzzkill, that goddamn hybrid._

She doesn’t even want to think about her adversary, who tragically looks exactly like her, in the middle of talking to the most precious person in her life.

“S-sure,”

“Let’s meet at Yongsan Station later,”

“Okay,”

The call ends with Jessica’s face still flushed and Taeyeon with a triumphant smile. The brunette gets up from her seat and decides to buy bread for her date. Initially, it was a rose but she thinks it may be too straightforward. Taeyeon goes out in her pajamas, happily buying the sweet kinds of bread for the half-hour trip to Namsan with her favorite person later.

Sooyoung turns off the engine of her car and carries an unconscious Yoona over her shoulder without difficulty. She walks up to the front door and rings the doorbell.

“Sooyoung! And… Yoona?” Sunkyu widens the door for them to enter. Sooyoung gently lays down the newborn vampire on the couch with a huff.

“What happened to her?” questions Sunkyu who has her mouth agape at the sight of her slowly deteriorating friend.

“As you can see, she’s close to dead. She refuses to drink animal blood and Juhyun is out of town,” Sooyoung exhales. “I don’t have access to her lab,”

“Do you have any spare blood bags for her to drink?” she asks after a few seconds of silence.

“Yes! I’ll get them,” Sunkyu shuffles to the fridge and gets two bags, one for the unconscious vampire and another for the chief of police.

“Thanks,” Sooyoung gets two mugs and pours the blood in it. She sits on the space next to Yoona, crossing her legs and sipping the blood like it’s tea. Meanwhile, Sunkyu prepares breakfast in the kitchen for herself. Seeing as she’s the only human in the household who actually enjoys normal human food, one pint of fresh blood is enough to feed one grown vampire for a few months. She’s thankful she’s still human.  
______  
Jessica wakes up to the buzzing on her phone. She barely opens her eyes and accepts the call, placing the phone on her ear as she closes her eyes again.

“Hello?” she yawns.

“Good morning,” a soft, familiar voice laughs. It sounded like angels singing to her. “It’s Taeyeon calling. Sorry if I woke you up,”

“Oh, the writer!” Jessica sits up on her bed when she heard the name. “It’s no problem. What can I do for you?”

“I’m in desperate need of a friend who can have brunch with me,” answers Taeyeon.

 _Come on, the universe is just pitying me. Brunch with a beautiful and successful woman like Taeyeon seems too generous,_ Jessica thought as a smile creeps up on her face.

“I’d be happy to be that friend!” she says a little too excitedly.

“I mean,” Jessica realizes how stupid she sounds and she clears her throat. “If you’d like me to, then it’s okay with me…” her voice lowers, embarrassed of herself.

She hears the angelic laughter through the phone again. “Of course I’m asking you out, dummy!”

Before Jessica could react, her face heats up and Taeyeon has officially rendered her speechless.

“W-w-why?” she stammers, unable to form simple sentences while her self-esteem spirals downwards.

“I didn’t like how we ended our talk last night. I wanted to get to know you more,” Taeyeon says coolly.

“S-sure,” she accepts without hesitation.

When the call ended, she takes no time to leap out of her bed and run to her closet.

She throws the clothes onto the bed and liking her choice of clothes so far. Jessica picks out a long-sleeved royal blue blouse, a pair of skinny white jeans, and a pair of strappy wedge sandals. Taeyeon directly said it’s a date, so she might as well go all out. 

After clearing the clothes, she notices a gold charm bracelet on the table near her bed. It has a little heart in the middle with the letter ‘J’ engraved on it. She doesn’t remember having this but decides to wear it on her date as it goes well with her outfit.  
______  
Taeyeon comes back home 15 minutes later, whistling a random song while carrying a paper bag full of her and Jessica’s favorite pieces of bread. She stops in her tracks when she sees Sooyoung and _“Is that Yoona unconscious again?”_ sprawled on her living room couch.

“Good morning?” she drops her keys on the bowl beside the door and replaces her shoes with slippers.

Sooyoung takes the untouched mug of blood and waves it around Yoona’s nose, letting her take a whiff of it. The young vampire jolts up at the scent and grabs the cup, downing the fluid in less than a second.

Taeyeon takes out a box of macarons with assorted fillings and giving it to Sunkyu who was eating on the dining table while she watches YouTube videos on her phone. Her human friend mouths a thank you and she smiles in response. She walks over to her guests, holding extra boxes of macarons.

“Here! I luckily bought a ton of these,” Taeyeon happily offers the boxes. Sooyoung takes them with a smile, giving one to the woman next to her.

The two friends look at Yoona with curiosity. She’s back to her undead self, thankfully. But she seems to have some built-up rage, as seen by her face.

“Taeyeon sunbae,” grumbled Yoona as she grips the empty mug tighter until it explodes into pieces, surprising everyone around her.

“You don’t like macarons?” The person in question squeaks, worried about her hoobae’s mood. Newborn vampires are a bit harder to control as they’re still adjusting to their heightened emotions and senses. She particularly hates dealing with them.

“You killed my family and turned me into a monster!” explodes Yoona. 

She charges at Taeyeon with her supernatural speed, choking her with her slender fingers. Taeyeon coughs, tapping the arms that are strangling her. Sooyoung pries them off, grabbing Yoona’s arms and cuffing it behind.

“You carry handcuffs on weekends?” Taeyeon remarks after recovering.

“This has dark magic. It’s especially for newborn vampires like her and she can’t easily break it by strength,” she gently pushes Yoona back to the couch, Taeyeon follows behind.

“Look, I don’t remember killing anyone’s family or Turning a hoobae of mine,” The brunette explains as soon as the three women were seated.

“But it was you! You promised me a good position in a new company that you’re working at, then I come home to see my dead family while you have that stupid smile on your face!” snaps Yoona as streams of tears flowed, remembering the family that she loved so much. As if experiencing it as a human is painful enough, she had to be Turned and suffer through it at the peak of her agony. She wants nothing more than killing off her sunbae.

“I’m sorry,” Taeyeon whispers, completely empathizing to her emotions.

 _Ji Han-na is nothing but a psychopath and a polar opposite of me._ She was able to notice throughout the years that Han-na doesn’t want to simply kill someone off to feel satisfaction, she deliberately targets her enemy’s loved ones and watches them be in despair.

Worse than the devil, that is her greatest foe.

“I promise you, that was my doppelganger, Han-na. I never wish for anyone to suffer as I do. She killed my family too,” Taeyeon spoke sincerely, her eyes glisten with tears. _I won’t break down,_ she holds in her emotions for now.

“Doppelganger?”

“Yes. Like you, I lost my family by her hands and I was Turned while fighting her. I need you to trust me. We can fight her together,” she searches Yoona’s eyes. She can understand if she won’t. However, she doesn’t need any more enemies.

“How do I know you’re the real Taeyeon?” doubts Yoona.

“A psychopath like her doesn't really have friends. Unlike her, I have tons of them. Like Sooyoung-ssi here,” she points to her. “And Han-na is a vampire-werewolf hybrid while I’m not. She can compel us and I can’t since I’m just like the rest of you guys,”

“Unnie, is this true?” Yoona turns to Sooyoung who nods in response.

“It is. Although they may look alike, I could still differentiate them through their fashion sense, for example. Han-na has a great taste in clothing while our Taeyeon dresses like a five-year-old,” Sooyoung motions to Taeyeon’s pajamas. The three vampires burst out laughing.

“Hey!”  
_______  
“Sorry, were you waiting long? I had to buy coffee,” Taeyeon hands her a cappuccino and a bag of sugar cookies.

Jessica takes it, then unconsciously scans Taeyeon’s attire. She was wearing a white shirt with the front tucked in her jeans and a pair of white sneakers.

_Maybe I overdressed myself._

“I like your outfit. Maybe I’m underdressed for this,” she chuckles.

“No, that’s just your style. Embrace it,” Jessica beams.

As the train arrived, she held out a hand for Taeyeon to take. The couple sat down and enjoyed the half-hour ride to Namsan while munching on baked sweets.

They exited at Myeongdong Station and walked to the cable car that goes straight to the _N Seoul Tower._ For centuries, Taeyeon has travelled to almost every place in South Korea and this is especially her favorite. Like Jessica, they’re not exactly fond of “romantic couple” stuff but they made an exception and visited this place once when they were dating each other. They sealed their promise by the Love Locks and enjoyed the view by the observatory.

Being the only one who carries their past memories, she wanted to visit this place with her again; not for selfish reasons, but to make new memories. This is still Jessica’s favorite place, after all.

Taeyeon takes out her phone and takes candid pictures of her date.

“Were you taking pictures of me?” Jessica gasps. She shuffles to sit next to her, shaking the cable car.

“Can you relax for a second?” Taeyeon laughs. She swipes through the pictures and hearts her favorite ones, which are all that she took.

“You’re actually a decent photographer,” she takes her phone and scrolls through the photos again, this time selecting the pictures without her funny facial expressions and sending it to her own phone.  
______  
Jessica doesn’t love expensive places. She feels bad and she wouldn’t enjoy the food no matter how good it tastes. The restaurants at the N Tower are a bit pricey and she felt like a burden entering there. But Taeyeon is apparently already a regular at the ramen shop, it lifted the weight off of her shoulders and they ate well. 

Of course, the vampire already knows this is Jessica’s favorite restaurant here. It’s not only cheap, but the food also fits their tastes.

“That was a good meal,” Jessica leans her head on the chair, relaxing. Her date has exceeded her expectations today. “Thank you, Taeyeon,”

“I’m happy you loved it,” she smiles at her.

“I need to take a quick bathroom break,” Taeyeon gets up from her chair and leaves Jessica who is still stuffed, digesting her food.

Not a minute later, Taeyeon comes back with a completely different outfit and makeup. “That was fast. What happened to your old clothes?” 

“The faucet broke. Glad I brought extra,” Taeyeon says with a devious smirk. She sits down and crosses her arms.

“You didn’t bring your clutch bag with you. How…?”

As Jessica continues to unsuccessfully piece the puzzle together, another Taeyeon walks up to their table wearing the same clothes as before. She has a confused look at Jessica who was mortified at what she’s seeing in front of her. Taeyeon turns her head to the woman seated on her seat, arms crossed, with darker clothes and makeup, and wearing her ever-so-famous smirk that means she planned this all along.

“Jessica? Please don’t freak out, I can explain this,”

The mortified girl swiftly grabs her things and rushes out of the restaurant as Taeyeon chases behind her, while Han-na laughs at the free entertainment provided by her unwanted invitation.


	6. crimson cutter

“I need to take a quick bathroom break,” Taeyeon says to Jessica who just smiles as she digests her food.

She looks around the interior of the restaurant and remembers her weird dream. For the past couple of days, she has always dreamt of being in an unfamiliar place with nothing but butterflies. That itself is odd, but it’s those words from last night’s dream that she can’t stop repeating in her head: “Take care of yourself. It’s dangerous to pursue the case,”

It hasn't been a minute since Taeyeon left for the bathroom but she was back already. The clacking of heels snaps Jessica out of her thoughts. She had a smoky makeup and she’s wearing a silk white button-up, black leather jeans, and a pair of red stiletto heels. It’s not what she wore and definitely not her style but Jessica erases her doubts for now as she’s still the same Taeyeon with an oddly sinister look on her face.

“That was fast. What happened to your old clothes?” Han-na smirks to herself, her plan coming to fruition.

_“Granny, what big eyes you have!”_

“The faucet broke. Glad I brought extra,” She sits down on Taeyeon’s seat and she crosses her arms.

 _Now we wait for that annoying, “righteous” vampire,_ Han-na thought with disgust. _Nothing is more repulsive than Taeyeon’s morals and her friends’._

“You didn’t bring your clutch bag with you,”

_“Granny, what big ears you have!”_

“How…?”

_“Granny, what big teeth you have!”_

Han-na smiles deviously again, _“All the better to eat you with!”_

Taeyeon walks over them, oblivious of what was happening.

She looks over to her doppelganger, then to her date who was ready to leave the place. Taeyeon looks at Han-na one more time who was now laughing. She resists the urge to snap her neck as there were witnesses everywhere, so she prioritizes finding Jessica and explaining to her what happened in the most inexplicit way possible.

Taeyeon catches up from behind, they both stop at a dead-end near N Tower, where couples write on padlocks and lock it onto the railings. There we no people around the spot, only the two of them, catching their breaths and in the state of shock.

“Jessica, please let me explain,”

“Have you been lying to me all this time?” accused Jessica, feeling betrayed and lied to. Were they planning to play with her feelings?

“I know what you’re thinking—she’s not my twin and we’re not related in any way,” she explains.

“So you called up your doppelganger to use me and my feelings, am I right?” Jessica spits her words, each one feels so sharp like it was meant to hurt. But it was never Taeyeon’s intention, why did it feel like a slap to the face?

She inches closer to the agitated Jessica. “Why are you so mean to yourself?” she asks softly while making eye contact.

“Why do you think you don’t deserve to be loved? Just because you work with the police, is it because you’re too busy?”

Jessica goes quiet, she makes sure to at least listen to her although she still feels betrayed. She fiddles with the gold bracelet on her wrist.

“What you saw today is never a plan of mine. I just wanted to see you smile and I succeeded,”

“Stop swaying me with your words,” whispers Jessica. “I regret…”

_Regret what, meeting her? That’s too mean. Accepting this date? That’s not true, I enjoyed this. Being stupid?_

Jessica grunts, she storms out of the place and bumping into Han-na who approaches Taeyeon slowly with ‘victory’ written all over her face.

“If you were gonna leave me to pay for your meals, you should’ve ordered something expensive and not those mediocre shit on the menu,” Han-na places her hand on Taeyeon’s shoulder as she snickers to herself.

“She has the same reaction as last time. Are you _really_ going to repeat history? Namsan again?” Taeyeon’s doppelganger laughs one last time before walking away and leaving her with regrets and resentment.

_______

“Sooyoung, are you and Yoona still at my place?” asked Taeyeon through the phone.

“No, I’m at Yuri’s café with Yoona and Sunkyu. How did the date go?” Sooyoung answers, slurping pasta.

“Han-na was there,” a defeated sigh was heard on the other end of the line.

The taller woman almost chokes on her food, “Where is she now?”

“I have no idea,” she sighs again, rubbing her temples. “But I asked Juhyun for a favor, she’s doing a locator spell as we speak,”

“That’s good. Do you want me to pick you up?”

“I can manage. Thanks, Sooyoung-ah. Keep your guards up,” reminds Taeyeon as she hails a cab. She ends the call and gets in the backseat.

Sooyoung loses her appetite and she stares at her phone in silence, memories of her human life flooding in as well as Han-na, the root of everything bad happening in Seoul right now. At the same time, she was grateful to Taeyeon who gave her a second chance a decade ago.

Vampire or not, she wasn’t ready to die. She needs to catch Han-na or kill her—whichever feels right at the moment.

Taeyeon stops by Juhyun’s clinic with her permission, getting just enough Vervain and a few wooden stakes and packing it in the bag that she found in the lab. She stops herself for a moment, only now realizing what she was doing.

 _So, we’re at war with a larger army: Han-na’s minions against my friends and me. And for what? She doesn’t always have a reason to pick a fight. Am I being too rash, too paranoid?_ Taeyeon takes a deep breath and looks at the black messenger bag, chockfull of weapons inside to use against her rival's minions. _It’s better to be safe than sorry._

Similar to her date, Jessica is still paranoid. She went straight to her bedroom and locked the door, spending her entire morning looking up Taeyeon’s secret twin on the Internet. She gives up after an hour, cursing herself again for not being hard-to-get.

“Why does she have to be so pretty?” groans Jessica, half-regretting storming off without hearing the rest of the excuses. Truthfully, she still likes Taeyeon despite playing with her feelings. She laughs at herself, “I’m a fool,”

“Han-na’s at your neighborhood,” spoke Juhyun through the phone.

“Of course she is,” Taeyeon rolls her eyes. “Thanks, Hyun-ah. Come back safe alright?”

“Don’t worry, Taeng,” Juhyun ends the call and cautiously puts down her phone, feeling something sharp on her neck.

Jessica fixes her makeup and decides to stop sulking in her room all day. She’s a lieutenant at her young age and she leads her precinct’s Violent Crimes like a walk in the park. Seoul doesn’t need a heartbroken officer to protect their country. She ties her hair in a bun and nods at her reflection, Jessica looks less disheveled than she was a minute ago but it was okay.

“Sit here,” Sunkyu pats on an empty chair beside her. Taeyeon sits down and glances at her three friends who were all eyeing her.

“What?” she knitted her brow. The bell chimed as the door to the café opened, Jessica enters with light steps and eagerness to get over her heartbreak by coffee.

_“One Caramel Macchiato, please. Venti,”_

“Is this a set-up?” asks Taeyeon as she sees Jessica by the counter.

“No, I just wanted to have coffee with my colleague to which she immediately accepted. Nothing wrong with that,” Sooyoung shrugs, sipping on her almost empty cup of Iced Latte.

“You’re her boss, of course she wouldn't turn you down,” pointed out Taeyeon and her friend smirks in response.

“Here, Sica-ssi,” Sooyoung calls over, waving her long arm. Jessica spots her sunbae along with two other people seated on the other side of the table, their backs unfamiliar to her. She sits down next to Sooyoung and her eyes widen when she sees Taeyeon.

“Sunbae? Uh, why did you call for me?” wondered Jessica, her eyes still focused on Taeyeon’s hairline as the latter tries to avoid eye contact.

“Great question!” replies Sooyoung, turning her head to Taeyeon who was quietly sipping on her drink. “Taeng?”

The brunette looks up and glares at her friend, she notices Jessica who had her head down and avoiding her eyes too.

“I-” she exhales. “I’m sorry, Jessica. The girl you saw, my doppelganger, had nothing to do with our date. I have no other excuses, I’m sorry for putting you in this position,”

Jessica speaks up after a moment of torturous silence, “Taeyeon, look. I’ve already forgiven you. I just have one question,” The older woman promptly makes eye contact and nods.

“Are we the only ones who know about her, whatever your twin’s name is?”

“Yeah, no one but you guys know about Han-na. She’s a real pain in the ass,” Taeyeon shook her head at the thought of her rival.

“I can tell,” scoffs Jessica, slumping down on her seat and crossing her arms as she thinks about the devilish smirk.

She spoke up again, “I’m sorry for leaving you like that,”

“It’s alright. I understand where you’re coming from,” Taeyeon’s soft eyes focused on Jessica’s, the corners of her lips tugging upwards. Jessica mirrors the action.

Their little moment was cut off when Hyoyeon came rushing in, panting and bloody. She speeds inside the empty staff room and Yuri, getting wind of the situation, rushes over to her friends’ table and tells them to follow her.

“Hyo?” Sunkyu asks first. “What happened to you?”

“Han-na. I went to your home like I always did and that bitch snapped my neck at the doorstep and stole my daylight ring,” spoke Hyoyeon through gritted teeth.

“Snapped your _neck?_ Daylight ring?” mutters Jessica to herself, utterly confused at the words coming out of the woman’s mouth.

“Han-na is currently in unnie’s house?” Yoona interjects.

“She’s presumably outside, she can’t get in without invitation,”

_______

Han-na kicks a pebble out of pure boredom and it lands in front of Taeyeon. She smirks, “Took you long enough,”

“What is it that you really want?” scowled Taeyeon as she steps forward to face her rival.

“To see your sweet Jessi’s face in agony and fear when I take your heart like this—” Han-na’s hand fails to puncture through the chest of her doppelganger as she drops to the ground in excruciating pain from her head.

Yuri walks over to the hybrid with her right hand raised, “I’m afraid that won’t happen when I’m around,”

“Another witch?” Han-na snarls through the pain. Taeyeon places a hand on Yuri’s shoulder and she stops.

Han-na recovers shortly and her fist collides with Taeyeon’s cheek. She staggers back from the blow, “That’s it?”

Taeyeon hits back and Yuri throws a bone dagger that she fished inside the messenger bag and she catches it. Sooyoung, Yoona, Sunkyu, and Jessica emerges and sees the fistfight happening in front of them.

“Should we stop them?” suggests Jessica, witnessing the heated battle that won't be easy to break off.

“It’s no use. We should at least stun Han-na from afar before she leaves her a nasty hybrid bite,” Sunkyu answers.

“What do you mean by hybrid bite?” Jessica asks again, having absolutely no idea what was going on.

“We’ll explain soon. Right now, we need to think of a plan,” replies Sooyoung as she plots her move to stop the two doppelgangers.

Han-na eventually tires out Taeyeon and taking the bone-dagger-turned-dark-object, pushing the weapon down to the heart as Taeyeon tries to keep it from piercing her chest.

“Why the hell are you so stubborn, you’ll just go to the Other Side,” grumbled Han-na.

“It’s you that they want,” Taeyeon spat, eyes filled with rage.

“Too bad, you’re going down first,”

The dagger plunges down. Before the tip of the blade touches her heart, Han-na writhes in pain once more, taking out the dagger and holding her aching head.

“Yuri unnie, did you do that?” Yoona questions and she looks at her unnie’s hands.

“It’s not me,” replies Yuri, looking as confused as the rest of them.

“You’re a siphon?!” Han-na groans, both in anguish and in annoyance.

“Juhyun’s a siphon?” repeats Sooyoung. They see Juhyun materialize, appearing with her clothes covered in blood.

“Thanks for that, Han-na-ssi. I can siphon my vampire ability to fuel my magic,” Juhyun says. She uses her newfound ability to speed towards Han-na, swiping the bone dagger from her hand and stabbing directly through the hybrid’s heart; the weapon sinking by itself like quicksand. The witch-vampire hybrid moves to Taeyeon, checking to see if she was bitten.

As the blade incapacitates Han-na, Yuri runs up to Taeyeon and the rest following from behind.

“She didn’t bite me, don’t worry,” Taeyeon chuckles and sits up, glancing at the immobilized body of her doppelganger. “Let’s go home, I’m sure some of you have questions,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bone dagger aka the title of this chapter aka papa tunde's blade from The Originals
> 
> and yes, seohyun is a siphoner! i've always wanted to make one of the girls a witch-vampire hybrid like kai parker from tvd so now i took the opportunity. to those who don't know what a siphoner is, they're witches who don't have their own magic and can only take others' by simply touching them. they're literally sucking out the magic of any supernatural beings and rendering them weak. they're feared and kicked out by their own covens bc of how dangerous they are and they have the ability to become a half-vampire for some reason.


End file.
